Man-made disaster

An abandoned project for flood control wreaks havoc in Kuttanad

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Jeemon Jacob

KuttanadAugust 4, 2018

ISSUE DATE: August 13, 2018

UPDATED: August 4, 2018 07:58 IST

A flooded house in Kainakary village, Kuttanad (Rateesh R)

Udayakumar Paramankulam and his family were forced to flee their home in Kainakary village after floods hit Kuttanad in mid-July. Like them, nearly 45,000 villagers of Alappuzha district were moved to 203 relief camps, while they waited for the waters to recede from their flooded homes and paddy farms.

Floods are not unusual in Kuttanad. But as Udayakumar, 50, says, "normally the water recedes after it stops raining. This time, it's a deluge even after days of sunshine." Their home, like thousands of others, remains submerged. And adding to their miseries is the looming threat of disease from the stagnant waters.

Known as the 'Rice Bowl of Kerala', Kuttanad comprises a 900 sq km delta region that was reclaimed from the sea some 150 years ago. It is a unique ecosystem of freshwater lakes and canals amid vast swathes of rice paddies, 1.2 to 2 metres below sea level.

Paddy farmer Anirudhan Velayudhan, 77, blames the government for Kuttanad's woes. He says the floods have come to stay because of the shoddy implementation of the Rs 1,840 crore Kuttanad Package, designed by M.S. Swaminathan (a native of Kuttanad) in September 2010. Velayudhan says most of the package was misappropriated to benefit rich landlords and the land mafia.

Meant for preventing the degradation of the aquatic ecosystem through flood control and development of agriculture and fisheries as well as water supply and sanitation schemes in the villages, the package was scrapped in 2013. Much of the work to deepen and widen the canals to ensure a free flow of flood waters remained incomplete.

Former CPI(M) legislator C.K. Sadasivan says it was an 'ill-conceived' package that now spells doom for Kuttanad. According to him, high tides in the Arabian Sea are blocking the outflow of floodwaters from Kuttanad. But the situation is really compounded by an extensive construction of roads, which has altered the natural flow of water in the area.

The Kuttanad package was meant to cover 1,439 paddy fields across 104 villages in the Kottayam, Pathanamthitta and Alappuzha districts. However, detailed project reports (DPRs) were prepared for just 254 paddy fields, and work was partially implemented only in 48.

K.G. Padmakumar, director of the International Research and Training Centre for Below Sea-Level Farming at Thottapally, agrees that the flooding is a consequence of the shoddy implementation of the package. Warning that Kuttanad's unique ecology may be in danger, the scientist recommends corrective measures, including bio fencing and the construction of temporary bunds.

In the wake of the calamitous flood, Kerala's Left Front government is now considering the completion of unfinished projects envisaged in the Kuttanad package.

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